Mariners Top 20 Prospects: Twenty To Track

Top 20 Prospects Home

This is not the number two prospect you expected to see today.  That will instead come on Monday (hooray suspense!).  Today, I decided to put up a watchlist of twenty guys that I’m keeping tabs on this summer, any of whom could jump in to the top 20 next year depending on how they perform.

It needs to be noted that these guys are listed in no particular order.  The only sorting of any kind to this list is who I thought of first.  Not all of them are full-on legit prospects, but they could at least be fringe major league talents or useful pieces if things fall right for them.

James Paxton, LHP:

James Paxton’s Debut

After finding out yesterday that left-hander James Paxton would be making his professional debut last night, there was no way I wasn’t going to tune in and do some analysis on the start.  I know that Paxton is someone Mariners fans have been waiting and waiting to get more information on ever since he was drafted.  Since I love my readers, I’m going to give you just that.

First, it needs to be noted that the Clinton radio feed was really rough last night.  There were stretches where there was more time listening to dead air than play-by-play, so there’s some details that are hazy, particularly Paxton’s exact pitch mix.  Still, there was pretty good information from the game, so let’s roll with it.

James Paxton To Debut For Clinton Tonight

Per Conor Glassey of Baseball America, Mariners LHP James Paxton will make his professional debut tonight for the Clinton LumberKings.

Paxton, a fourth round draft pick in 2010, didn’t sign until after Spring Training began.  While the reports on his spring performance were impressive, the organization decided to hold him back from a full-season assignment right off the bat in order to build his arm strength and let him tune things up before assigning him.  Now he’s been deemed ready, and is headed for the Midwest League.

Whether or not Paxton starts tonight is not yet known.  Tonight’s starter for the LumberKings is currently listed as Seon Gi Kim, but the move has not yet been officially announced.  Even if Kim does start tonight, Paxton could be in line for several innings, as the young Korean has yet to crack 5 1/3 innings pitched in any of his starts so far this year.  As soon as I have more information, including the roster move to make room for Paxton on the roster, I’ll bring it to you.

UPDATE: The move is now official.  Paxton has been added to the roster and will be starting for the LumberKings tonight in place of Kim.  LHP Jason Markowitz was promoted to High Desert, creating the hole that Paxton has now filled.  The full text of the press release is at the end of the post.